Session 9 Summary

late afternoon at the tide stones, and the party are attacked by a winged beastie which is quite tough, but as a single monster lacks the AC or darkness ability to be a true threat, and they loot its nest.

A long argument about climbing the mountain ensues, before Ron stomps off to find a poisonous snake to activate the tidal stone.  The group decide to rest and establish that the water stays down for about 6 hours.

In the morning the group lower the water again, using a fresh snake (the previous one having been thrown into the ocean) and consider alternatives like use magic device, or perhaps a monster summoning I spell to summon a poisonous snake.  And deafness.

The descend to the slippery rocks and kill a shark, and defeat a mighty water mephit and his spear urchin crewman on the wrecked ship.

Then it's in through the creepy looking doors, where a couple of lizardfolk skeletons atop a bridge across the first room in the complex.  The skeletons are defeated, the combat assisted by the skeletons jumping 40' to the floor below once they ran out of javelins.

xp		Dorian	Szraiel	Helga	Ron	Titus
Start		8261	8511	8361	8611	8511
RP - Backgrounds			100		150	300
Chupacabra		320	320	320	320	320
Shark		120	120	120	120	120
Water Mephit		160	160	160	160	160
Spear Urchin		240	240	240	240	240
Serpentfolk Skeletons		240	240	240	240	240
RP - Deafness		150	150	150	150	150
		9491	9841	9591	9991	10041

Iomedae Save Me ………….. 6

Nothingness turns to blackness. Silence broken by noises of rasping breathing and movements somewhere close. My limbs are stiff, as if I have slept several days in an uncomfortable position.

Unconsciously my hand moves to my hip and then my neck. I manage a smile, the physical possessions I hold most important are still there.

With uncharacteristically laboured effort I make a familiar gesture. “Lumous”

The blackness is replaced by Iomedae’s blinding radiance. I am alive and more importantly, have not been forsaken by her divine magnificence.

A moment to reorient myself, I stuffed within an alcove within a chamber. About me I see similar alcoves and in them my other companions. Dorian is moving, but I am not sure about the others.

Dorian and I quickly check over the others. Praise be to Iomedae, they are alive! I can see they all suffering the effects of ghoul fever, Dorian and Helga in particular seem to have particularly virulent strains. Whilst I do not seem to be suffering from this affliction, I quick examination reveals ugly wounds on my arms and legs that appear as if I had been feasted upon by some feral creature.  It would appear that that which Iomedae would not let become an abomination would instead become lunch.

The only casualties were our weapons. There was no argument among the group, it was time to leave.

Fortunately we were still in the complex under the cannibal village, and the exit was in the next chamber.

After extricating from the pit, I moved to check on the detained cannibal women.  They were alive, and four days without rum had sobered them up.

An argument broke out with what to do with them. Butcher them (Szraiel), a slave/servant (Ron), eat them (Helga) and probably some other morally questionable act (Dorian). I would have none of it. With a heavy heart I called upon the powers granted to me by Iomedae. I already knew the answers. Unequivocally I could see the foul evil taint upon them. There was only one path to take.

My compatriots cued onto what had been decided and began a barrage of complaints and arguments. I would have none of it. It is not their choice. It is the will of Iomedae. I am her instrument of divine retribution. It is my burden to carry out her judgement.

I took a large knife from the cannibal slaughterhouse and descended into the prison pen. No doubt some would find irony in that which they had used to butcher so many would become the very tool of their final judgement.

They seemed to know what fate await them and began to scream and wail in protest and pathetic pleas for mercy.  They were forfeit long ago and judgement has been made.

I said a final prayer to Iomedae on behalf of their doomed souls and one by one took them by the hair and jammed the knife into the back of their neck, where the skull meets the spine.  I am told death is near instantaneous and painless when caused in this manner. This was the small mercy I could give them in their final moments.

There is no innocence, only degrees of guilt

…………………………………………….

Szraiel seemed to be most affected by the incident and decided he want to purge any signs of the evil that had been committed in the village. He started collecting the human jerky and butchers equipment, placing it into one of the huts.  He announced he was then going to burn it all. I understood his rationale and assisted with the cleaning of the village and preparation of the pyre.

As we watched the inferno I thought that perhaps in some way Iomedae is beginning to reach him. I will continue to observe his future actions.

It was time to move on and a decision needed to be made. I had no desire to leave the issue with the Mother unresolved, but given our previous encounter with her and current afflictions we were experiencing, we thought it time to recover before attempting another assault.

We headed back to the Dryad. She was very excited to see us, but very worried about Dorian. Over the next three days the party slowly recovered from their ailments. I am very glad for the assistance of the Dryad despite Ron’s continual unintentional rudeness. Without her treating our symptoms I think that Dorian and Helga may have succumbed to their illnesses.

After our recovery we headed off to check on the Tengu and our fellow castaways.  Pezcack elected to accompany us, having grown bored of waiting at his giant crustacean and able to move about more freely now the cannibal menace had been broken. The castaways were still managing, though I think they were beginning to get a little anxious to get off the island. As we prepared to depart the camp, were heard the sounds of thunder from the south and saw flashes of lightning that appeared to go from the ground up to the heaven. Ron and Szraiel were convinced that the phenomena originated from the area we believe the tidestone to be.

It would still have to wait until we had dealt with the mother and we left the village heading south and clearing more of the eastern coast line before we would turn west and head back to the village.

On this journey we found another abandoned hut that looked like it had been turned into a shrine by the cannibals. Inside was in far more dilapidated condition, suggesting that the tribe folk did not enter. However we were able to salvage the remains of a journal. The journal and hut belonged to the captain of the Thrune’s Fang and the remaining journal fragments detailed the corruption of his crew and beginning of the cannibal blight.

We lowered ourselves into the pit once more. This time we knew what awaited us. We moved quickly and quietly through the caverns until we entered the chamber that was the scene of our defeat one week ago.

Again the darkness entered from the far end of the chamber and from it dismissive comments forecasting of our likely fate as dinner or lackeys.

The battle began, between magical darkness and smokescreens caused by Ron’s alchemical concoctions it quickly became a protracted affair. Her unholy blasts were countered by Dorian’s mystical healings. It seemed a stalemate would develop however the darkness retreating into the room and then into watery exit on the far side of the room.

The Mother had fled into water.

We quickly recovered our equipment and set up an ambush hoping for the beasts return. Alas it was not to be and it seemed we had chased her off. Justice had been denied.

Only one threat remained. The flying menace which seemed to be co-located with the tide stone.

We left the pit and followed the southern coast to the east.  

Iomedae Save Me ………….. 5

My plans to maintain the initiative and move immediately to the clear the cannibal village were dashed as my companions decreed that we continue with the deliberate clearance of the western coast.

Whilst I respect their decision, at the time I found it infuriating that they did not want to purge the evil once and for all and that their rationale did not place the welfare of possible survivors, prisoners or our fellow castaways above their desire to ensure we didn’t miss any shipwrecks.

Fortunately my concerns were proven to be unwarranted. The journey down the southwestern coastline proved to be quite uneventful aside from the usual maladies infecting Dorian. He seems to possess an unusually high susceptibility to plagues of this island. It may come from his debaucherous tendencies and his general aversion of any physical activity. I may need to coerce him into more exercise in the future to improve his vitality.

We finally rounded the southwestern corner of the island and across a small sheltered cove we could see what we were sure was the unfinished lighthouse poking out from the jungle canopy. Unsurprisingly it was not lit. Off the coast there was also the wreck of the Thrune’s Fang. The Thrune’s Fang was believed to be the original source of/cause of the cannibal tribe seventy years ago.

Finally the party agreed to a direct advance on the village along the jungle path.  Aside from a crudely constructed snare and a tied up “guard-lizard” we entered the village without trouble. Oun the outside the collection of buildings looked relatively harmless, but signs of the perverted taint that infected it were everywhere. A large cauldron containing the remains of some unfortunate being sat over the fire pit, the first building we entered contained four skeleton, the second, jerky made from a number of sentient humanoids and an open slaughter house that was open to an obvious prison pen. Not just satisfied with subsisting on other intelligent creatures, this foul tribe appeared to derive perverse pleasure from butchering their victims in front of other captives. Truly they were long overdue for annihilation.  The second floor of the lighthouse contained the only intelligent (which I use very loosely) inhabitants of the village, four female humans. Judging by their appearance and location, they were most likely the deceased leader’s harem. Rather than attacking or interfering with, they seemed content to loll about in the rather large bed they shared, a dozen empty rum bottles around the room confirmed that they were quite intoxicated. As they were dragged to their feet they verbally abused in some foreign tongue. With the powers granted to me by Iomedae I determined they were speaking a slurred sub-dialect of abyssal. They mentioned something called the mother below and indicated towards a covered pit in the village. Perhaps we could find some answers there.

I ignored my companions desire to butcher them on the spot or visit upon them some of the tortures they had visited upon the others. I understand their desire to avenge the atrocities the tribe had committed, but not in this way and not for the reasons they were suggesting. Instead chained them in the prison pen with some water and what food I could locate in the village that did not come from another intelligent creature. 

Into the pit we delved and into a nightmarish hell of undead abominations we had entered.

Shortly after entering we were accosted by a pair of what can best be described as large ghoulish dogs guarding a room containing several alcoves. These abominations in the eyes of Iomedae were quickly destroyed and search of the roomed turned up a note from the captain of the Jenneverie containing his final confession.In it he admitted to poisoning the crew and passengers on his boat and deliberately running it aground on this island at the behest of the final missing passenger. From his ravings we could deduce that he had been enthralled by hear, possibly magically and she may have been more than she appeared, likely magically disguised. His reward for his loyalty to her and treachery to his crew was to be left here and slowly turned into a ghoul by this evil mother we had heard about. Although deserving of punishment for his crimes, there is no crime that punishment by slowly being twisted into an undead abomination could warrant. I pity this man and his final days. May Iomedae have mercy on his soul.

This “mother” needed to be found and her reign of evil ended.

A side tunnel in roughly shaped caverns led to a well-constructed temple of some ancient serpent god. After dispatching a pair of ghouls who were standing watch of a large pile of humanoid remains we located and diamond shaped chamber covered in frescoes and murals depicting serpent like humanoids controlling the weather and oceans to destroy a fleet of human ships by using some magical obelisks. Szraiel and Ron were pretty sure that the carvings referred to this island and we found a note that gave cryptic instructions in how to operate a device called tide stone. And that there might be one located near the high feature on South Eastern edge of the island. Before we set off to investigate, there was still the mother left to deal with and so we proceeded further into the complex.  

A lone ghoul detected our presence and fled deeper into the caverns screaming out some warning to whatever lurked in the darkness.

We pursued the ghoul through a narrow corridor and into a chamber where it was joined by three of its companions. Four foul abominations to destroy, Iomedae does truly bless me. I am but an instrument of her will.

The battle was quickly joined, but did Iomedae did not smile on us today and both Helga and Szraiel were quickly paralysed by the wretched creatures who swarmed all over them, a mass of filthy teeth and claws. Then came the darkness.  An unnatural darkness I will not quickly forget.  

It came up behind the ghouls and enveloped them and us. In our confusion we managed to slay the ghouls, but whatever caused the darkness quickly finished of the party with bursts of unholy power and slashing claws. Even I succumbed quickly to its paralysis. I could only listen in horror is it began to consume my friends.

Enraged, I shook free from the paralysis and landed a solitary righteous blow into the darkness and unto the mother. I am cut down by a claw and collapse slowly to ground, bleeding from a plethora of wounds.

Iomedae save me.

Therapy Session of Ron Plunderman #5

Ron lay back resting on the couch, so far he had been extremely unresponsive and the doctor was starting to show signs of frustration.

 “Ron? Ron do you hear me?”

Ron didn’t respond, his breathing was feint and rhythmic as if he was falling asleep.

 “Is this your latest thing is it? To sleep through these sessions? It won’t work you know”

In an almost dreamy voice Ron replied. “Shhh. Not so loud.”

“Ron you know what will happen.”

Ron yawned. “I don’t care about any of that.”

The doctor sighed. He tapped his pen on his journal as he thought on how to provoke a response from his uncooperative patient. After a short time the tapping abruptly stopped and the doctor smiled.

“You know, I’ve been speaking to Titus.”

 Ron breathed slowly. “Ah good, about time he got some help.”

 The doctor shook his head, “No not as a patient, he has been asked to testify to the Lord Council.”

Ron yawned and shifted slightly on the coach. “Heh heh serves the Lord’s Council right.”

The doctor patiently continued. “He is going to testify that you are insane and a danger to society.”

Ron’s mood immediately changed, he sat up and looked the doctor in the eyes. “What? That slimey cock sucking weasel. He wouldn’t dare. He told you that?”

The doctor shook his head, “Not in those precise words … in fact quite the opposite, he claimed he will do everything he can to help poor old Ron.”

Ron was immediately irritated, he really didn’t like being referred to as poor old Ron.

The doctor continued, “How do you suppose the testimony will go? Poor mad Ron is misunderstood…he’s just got a few issues .. he’s not that bad for a drug addicted killer? “

Ron growled, “This is bullshit.”

“Perhaps, ” said the doctor, “ but as I keep telling you, I can help you, I can stop this from happening.”

The doctor paused to allow his words to sink into Ron. “Now that I have your attention can we please continue?”

Ron begrudgingly nodded.

 “So if we can revisit what happened in the cannibal village. You say Titus butchered the captive women? Correct?”

Ron nodded again. “Yeah he harped on about taking them back to civilization to receive a fair trial but suddenly changed his mind. He demanded only he was allowed to execute prisoners so he went in and cut their throats.”

“Hmm “ said the doctor, “ and how did that make you feel?”

Ron shrugged. “Not sure. Can’t say I cared that much either way.”

“But you did ask to keep one as a sex slave?”

Ron shook his head, “Not a sex slave, just a slave but I probably would’ve fucked her regularly. Anyway that never happened because high and mighty tight arse got all precious over the idea.”

“Did you really mean it? To keep one as a slave?”

Ron shrugged again. “I don’t know, sometimes I just say stuff. But yeah, why not? A little cannibal slut for a slave might’ve been fun a while.”

“For while? What do you mean by that?”

Ron sighed, he really hated these sorts of questions. “I mean for awhile, as in not forever. I really don’t know what I mean by that.”

The doctor looked at Ron curiousily, “Okay, but why keep a slave? Did you think it would give you a feeling of power? Do you like the idea of owning people like pets?”

Ron looked at the doctor dubiously. “Why would keeping a slave make me feel powerful? Mutagens and potions make me feel powerful?”

“So then why did you want a slave?”

“I don’t know, “ said Ron, “ I said I wasn't even sure if I did, but maybe I felt sorry for them. Could’ve given at least one a second chance.”

“But they were evil right? Beyond redemption? Otherwise why would Titus have killed them?”

Ron rolled his eyes. “How should I know? All I know is I found the imbred sluts all passed out from drinking. Never saw them do anything bad.”

The doctor wrote something down then asked, “So you think Titus was wrong. That they weren’t evil?”

Ron shook his head. “I’m not an idiot doc. I know they ate people and probably did all sorts of fucked up shit. I don’t need Titus’s bullshit powers to see that they’re evil. But that’s the way they were brought up. It wasn’t their fault.”

“So you did care about them being executed.”

Ron sighed. “Yeah okay maybe a little bit, but really I mean it, only a little bit. I haven’t lost a wink of sleep over it.”

The doctor nodded, “Okay so go on, tell me about the little bit you cared?”

“Okay, so the paladin declares them beyond help and cuts their throat open. That’s it their lives end right there. They get raised as cannibals, never learnt anything else and they get punished for their parents sins. That’s what Iomedae is all about, smite this and smite that. I bet you Iomedae’s ranks are filled with homicidal maniacs who only became paladins just so they can kill people legitimately.”

“Oh and another thing. Why is it okay to cut someone’s throat open, but not keep one as pet? Heh? I don’t get. Atleast as a slave maybe they might’ve learnt something?”

“Do you mean redeemed themselves?”

Ron again shook his head. “Redeemed, what the hell does that really mean? Redeemed to what? As in learn how to kill as Iomedae would prefer? Pfff. Whatever. Maybe they would’ve learnt from me what a real man is like. Or maybe they would’ve escaped and started eating people in Sargova. How should I know? I’m not a bloody oracle. Go ask the poofter if you want to know about the future? Or the crazy witch. “

The doctor scratched his chin, “You know Ron, I really have no idea what you are trying to say. Are you saying its okay to eat people?”

“No. “ said Ron. “Its disgusting, but if I was stuck on a desert island with you, I would eat you to survive. What I’m saying is they probably never had a choice in anything and Titus ensured they never would either. I mean I bet he thought it was a more merciful to kill someone rather than give them to me.”

“Maybe it was the other way around, that giving them to you wasn’t punishment enough.”

“Not a chance doc.”

4.Szraiels ‘Notes aboot Notin’

We have kept exploring this island. Its now much easier as between the cleric at base camp and the paladin we are protected from the oppressive heat.  We are still following my plans – with the addition of doing all the coast and checking on the survivors occasionally Ron seems keen on. Hopefully once we get to the body of the island I can convince them to explore the other arm of the claw shaped island. If I can delay our encounter with the cannibals I believe we will fare much better. Also if I counter track our way there and our incursions come from that arm of the island our charges apparent will have greater odds of being unharmed by cannibals.

The paladin has tried a couple times to suggest routes for us to take ignoring that whet we are doing is working. Humans always trying to fix what isn’t broken. I can see this as being a problem down the line, they obviously don’t have the mental strength to acknowledge a superior race when they meet one. His back in his box, apparently he realises he needs me more than I need him, I would happily go out on my own on this island. Strangely I am quite comfortable and quietly confident here. My skill set is not lacking and my resistance or luck against the diseases seems to be growing. Granted without the others I would have to use stealth and probably fight a guerrilla war of attrition which might be slower assuming I couldn’t find other allies but I have the patience of a serpent after all.

Following my instincts we did a little loop to explore the junction of two rivers (good fishing and popular settling spots if I remember my histories). Surprisingly we only found nettles. Ron recognised their curative powers and I was interested in their ability to further fortify our charges camp once we find a nicer place. The nettles were poisonous and difficult to traverse so I did it alone, easily harvesting what was needed. Finishing my loop we found a campsite on the coast, the captain and his girl were here, i think they brought us here. Why they didn’t end us on the beach is something we shall have to discuss before I decide if they are truly foes. In our travels we found, what I believe to be, an IDEAL camp spot. Also the travel there will allow us to cover a little more of the island and close of the loop we marooned on and get away from where others might know we are. Who knows what the woman ron chased into the jungle might say to save her meat if the cannibals get hold of her.

The evening yet again titus failed to protect us on watch and something bad got close enough to camp to wake ron. At first we thought we saw it glinting outside camp, I investigated and merely found some disembowelled goat near camp. I think its playing with us and we had better build proper rooves at the base camp.

A freaky spider (i don’t like spiders) and another dino later we got back to camp. I was happy to show jask that he is now exonerated, I had been curious bout him since my old captain first brought him aboard and he never seemed the petty type. His to teach us some meditation techniques the following day.

After the training inexplicably ron convinced sasha to go swimming it seems the eggs the others wanted to destroy and teased me for collecting were indeed useful. Luckly sasha wants to hatch them and will show us some assassin techniques if they do.

We convince our charges to relocate and on the following day get to the new spot. Its so idealic its should be a holiday destination!  After setting up camp I have a breakthrough in my ever continuing lessons with ishiro and manage to speak Tian without his chastisement and guidance. He is impressed and reveals a treasure map to me. That night a monkey falls from the sky.. it seems our aerial watcher knows where we are. I need to get onto that roofing idea I had.

The following day I gather the monkeys and we set out. As usual I trail blaze a path in a roundabout fashion as to flank our goal and circuit the destination before committing. In doing so we come across a hut. Our first tangible sign of the cannibals. It seems they slaughtered some other poor marooned souls who lacked my competence but thankfully their demise was not a waste as the cannibals left writings that might allude to their motivations or numbers. Inexplicably titus wants to destroy the evidence. Thankfully I was quicker and stopped him. After a prolonged argument where he lied that he detected the pentagram (used in all summoning and protection circles) and the writing as evil he came round. I am reminded he was not an original of the genavieve and his origins and placement are still a mystery. I doubt he is the knight he portrays himself to be as he seems full of assumption, rage and untruths. He then proceeded to read the scrawl revealing the cannibals have an infernal not an abyssal connection and honoured these foes for being worthy opponents. I will have to remember that, perhaps whatever gods they worship grant succor to worthy opponents and that knowledge just might save us..

We found the treasures location but it was DEEP so returned to the camp (via the berries and thorn bushes) to collect some needed supplies. While the others lazed about I spent the rest of the day fixing up the camp with roofing and some thorny barriers to create choke points round camp. After some minor archeological know-how we started the dig. I really feel at home on this island. There was a massive plug of wood we had to dig around that still amazes me. That pirate had some serious know how and resources. Ron and I went down into some water destroyed some fishy undead and after a little dive find the treasure chest. After a further search and some spine tingling hauling we get the chest up. Even utilizing the assets of the witch my plan to open it fails. The lock is VERY impressive. Didn’t think I would find something that could vex my technical sskillss on this island. I think there are many secrets to this place I want to get to the bottom of.